William Hill has invited law firms to pitch for its new UK panel with the bookmaker expected to slim down its six-strong roster. Continue reading “Luck of the draw: William Hill invites law firms to pitch for smaller legal panel”
LB100 firm Bevan Brittan has brought 90 administrative staff back into the firm, ending its six-year agreement with Intelligent Office UK – which takes outsourced services from professional services firms. Continue reading “Back in-house: Bevan Brittan ends outsourcing agreement to bring 90 admin staff into the firm”
Listed law firm Slater and Gordon (S&G) is to bring a £600m action against the company formerly known as Quindell over its 2015 deal to acquire Quindell’s professional services division.
White & Case‘s London associates have seen a significant increase in their pay with the US firm awarding its newly qualified (NQ) associates with a £15,000 pay hike for 2017.
Experienced financial regulation partner Bob Penn, who moved to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton last year and advised HSBC on the controversial bank ring-fencing reforms while at Allen & Overy (A&O), is clear on whether those reforms are fit for purpose. ‘This is a hugely unwelcome and disruptive process, and frankly yet another distraction from running a profitable bank at a time when they are already facing a cascade of regulatory reform and the prospect of Brexit.’
The City’s leading firms have formally embraced flexible working, with the percentage of fee-earners working part-time at the top ten of the Legal Business 100 ranging between 2% and 10%.
Continue reading “‘Some firms do it very well’: Top City outfits embrace flexible working”
While pitching to general counsel (GCs) is hardly a foreign concept for private practitioners, an elite group of GCs for fast-growth companies has invited a pre-selected list of law firms to bid to host its events.
After going months without a global managing partner, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has appointed Australia chief executive partner Sue Kench to the role, effective 1 June 2017. Continue reading “‘Cementing KWM’: Australian chief exec Kench elected as new global managing partner”
Kirkland & Ellis has returned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to hire financial restructuring partner Sean Lacey.
Clyde & Co has kept up the rapid pace of its international expansion by announcing its first office in Mexico, merging with four-partner local law firm Garza Tello & Asociados. Meanwhile, Dentons has signed a strategic alliance in Brazil with local firm Vella Pugliese Buosi Guidoni.
Sarah Davis, group commercial legal director of Guardian Media Group (GMG) , is set to leave the company after seven years in the role, Legal Business can reveal. Continue reading “In-house: Sarah Davis to leave legal director role at Guardian Media Group”
Emerging markets are by nature volatile, frequently impacted by events such as political instability, civil unrest, corruption and other economic forces. The extremes of growth and decline could hardly be more apparent than in the Middle East, where the collapse in oil prices has prompted a great deal of soul searching.
Saudi Arabia, for example, is going through the most radical social and economic reform programme in its history, and Iran is still subject to ongoing trade sanctions and uncertainty connected to US foreign policy. Added to this, these two nations share deep enmity, which demands high levels of diplomacy on the part of firms that target both jurisdictions. Continue reading “Holding steady – A turbulent Middle East market separates the committed from the faint-hearted”
Every Thursday at 6pm, Yair Geva, co-head of Herzog Fox & Neeman (HFN)’s high-tech department, drinks a beer on the rooftop of a client’s office in central Tel Aviv. The weekly drink, which started seven years ago when he returned to Israel from New York, is a routine that is borne out of professional commitment and friendship. In the start-up and high-tech world, the two often go hand in hand.
‘We share a long journey with our clients and we are often with them from day one,’ Geva says. ‘The only way to keep in touch with this very vibrant dynamic ecosystem is to hang out with friends, clients and hear the news.’ Continue reading “In the game – Israeli law firms embrace risks to secure the tech icons of tomorrow”
In a world where newspapers are branding judges ‘enemies of the people’ and fake news dominates public discourse, these days the media itself is the story.
Continue reading “Fit to print – who’d want the lot of a media and publishing GC?”
The media company’s group legal director discusses how her personal approach took her to the top of her game
At the age of 19, while doing work experience for a duty solicitor, Nilema Bhakta-Jones was called to Nuneaton police station, finding herself in a mostly empty set of cells at 1am. One cell was occupied by the client, a man arrested on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm against his pregnant girlfriend.
Continue reading “Client profile: Nilema Bhakta-Jones, Ascential”
My father, who sadly died last year, did his articles. Absolutely hated it. Left as soon as he could. He did briefly work in London and then went to Edinburgh, and carried out his career as a fund manager. He was always much more interested in stock markets than the law. He was a very kind, calm and perceptive man.
I joined SJ Berwin in 1991, qualified in 1993, became a partner in 1999, left in 2004. Came back in 2006. Until the bitter end.
Researching our quality of life special, we canvassed the top ten UK firms for details on their HR policies on parental leave and flexible working, as well as other support provided to improve the lives of all staff. Below are the results
‘Management is the most noble of professions… No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow. More and more MBA students come to school thinking that a career in business means buying, selling and investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people.’
Clayton Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life?
Continue reading “Survivors – the battle to improve the working lives of lawyers”
City lawyers have long been prone to burnout. Are changing attitudes seeing law firms finally face up to the challenges of mental health and extreme stress?
‘I decided the sensible thing to do was walk across four lanes of French motorway traffic. Eventually I was accosted by a toll gate assistant asking: “What are you doing?” I had to confess that I really had little idea. I wasn’t aware of the warning signs.’
Continue reading “Fault lines – Can City law face up to the challenges of mental health?”
